Retroreflective liquid pavement markings typically include retroreflective elements. Such retroreflective elements are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,750,191; 5,774,265; 5,942,280; 7,513,941; 8,591,044; 8,591,045; and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2005/0100709 and 2005/0158461, all of which are incorporated herein in their entirety. Commercially available retroreflective elements include, for example, All Weather Elements made by 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn. An exemplary retroreflective element is shown in FIG. 1. Retroreflective element 100 includes a core 110 adjacent to numerous glass or glass ceramic beads 120 that are adhered to the outermost surface of core 110 by a binder.
As is described in, for example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0100709, the retroreflective elements are applied onto or into retroreflective, liquid roadway or pavement markings or compositions such that at least a portion of most of the retroreflective elements extends above or out of the roadway or pavement marking. Light that is transmitted by a light source (e.g., a streetlight or a car's headlights) is incident on the retroreflective liquid pavement marking (and the retroreflective elements therein) is retroreflected by the retroreflective elements in the roadway marking. Specifically, the glass or glass ceramic beads transmit incident light back toward the incoming light source.